Non-Profit Fundraisers

A great list of fundraisers for non-profit organizations. These fundraisers work well for most not-for-profit groups, so read through them and be sure to let us know how the fundraiser worked out, and share any of your ideas for improving them!

A Breakfast with Santa

Sell tickets $10 in advance, and $12 at the door. Make a large breakfast with sausage, pancakes, eggs, etc. Have Santa come around and visit kids at the tables. Then let the kids come sit on Santa's lap and sell pictures....[read full fundraiser]

Adult Spelling Bee

Allow each class or squad to select three adult members. These adults can find their own sponsors to pay the admission fee. Host a contest to let the adults know how hard spelling bees are for the kids!...[read full fundraiser]

All You Can Eat Pizza

This event costs $12.00 per person, but after the dinner our restaurant then donates $6.00 back to your organization in cash, which the scouts can use however they wish.
(This tip was submitted by conniespizza.com)...[read full fundraiser]

Best Seat in the House

Sell tickets out to people for a chance to win the best seat in the house. Provide a couch for the winner to sit in at a local sporting event and cater pizza and pop to them in the middle of the game....[read full fundraiser]

Bike Scavenger Hunt

Provide a list of 30-40 objects in your town. Participants can sign up individually, or in a team. Teams are responsible for their own well-being, bikes, and cameras. The competition is to see which group can photograph al...[read full fundraiser]

Blind Auction

Have donors wrap up their gifts. You can do funny presents, or things you have that you don't really want. Wrap presents in an extra box, or put a brick in to throw off the weight and shape of the package....[read full fundraiser]

Caged Critters

Get mayors, principals, or other important figures to volunteer to spend an hour or two caged. Tell people that you will only let the caged people go when you raise $10,000. Have volunteers run up to cars and ask them to do...[read full fundraiser]

Car Smash

Compose 2 teams of 8 people and let the race to see who can take two old donated cars apart the fastest. Charge admission to sit in the stadium and watch....[read full fundraiser]

Cardboard Boat Race

Give each team a certain amount of materials they can use (cardboard sheets, tape, paint, glue), and limit their time. Have the participants race, and give awards for most effort and durability. Expect most boats to capsize...[read full fundraiser]

Cheater's Spelling Bee

In this spelling bee, you can charge teams to enter and cheat, or allow the teams to enter and then give them certain lifelines, like on popular game shows. They can donate to receive more lifelines, and be creative with the...[read full fundraiser]

Chili Cook Off

Challenge several volunteers to put their famous chili recipe to the test. Let the general public come in and sample the chili and vote for the best. Charge $5 for adults and $2.50 for kids. You can also hold a raffle....[read full fundraiser]

Chinese auction

Get stores and businesses to donate items, gift certificates and services. Host the auction where people can purchase tickets for $1.00 each. They then place as many tickets as they want in container for item they would lik...[read full fundraiser]

Christmas in [month]

Invite people to come to your Christmas party and dress in Christmas colors (no need to set up a tree or decorate). Wrap and auction off gifts while giving hints about each....[read full fundraiser]

Community Service

Have the youth in your group get sponsors for each hour of community service they do. Arrange to spend several hours over a couple weeks doing service at some local organization. People will love to donate to service!...[read full fundraiser]

Crazy Hat Day

Pick a day to be crazy hat day (also works for hair or shoes) and tell people to pay to enter a competition and have a panel of judges pick the craziest hat....[read full fundraiser]

Crowdvance Fundraising Online

We give booster clubs the ability to accept donations online through customizable fundraising pages and incentivize donations by rewarding donors with specialty discounts to national brands that we’ve partnered with. Instead ...[read full fundraiser]

Cuffing Contest

Inform the members of your community of the rules, and allow them to pay a fee to nominate a person. You will cuff one member of your organization to one outside participant. The pair will then try to raise money until they...[read full fundraiser]

Curb House Number Painting

Use cardboard stencil cutouts to apply the paint. Paint a black background first, and then paint the house numbers over the black rectangle in reflective paint. Contact your city to check if a permit is needed. Work in tea...[read full fundraiser]

Cutest Baby Contest

Charge $15 to enter a photo of your child 5 years or younger. Charge $1 to vote. Give a prize to the winner....[read full fundraiser]

Dance Dance Marathon!!

A continuous, multi-hour event in which participants raise funds through pledges. This event blends dancing, music, games, food and a variety of entertainment into one amazing experience....[read full fundraiser]

Demolition

There are plenty of buildings and landmarks that are destroyed each year. Raffle tickets for the opportunity to press the button at the demolition....[read full fundraiser]

Dinner Auction

Have volunteers make dinners or desserts and label them. Place them all on a table and then auction them off....[read full fundraiser]

Dog Treats

Buy bowls at the dollar store, and get a large back of doggie treats. Fill each bowl with treats and put them in a plastic bag. Split members of your organization into groups, and have them sell the bowls outside of superma...[read full fundraiser]

Don't Come Event

Create invitations to a glamorous event, and make it sound incredible, because you won't actually be doing it. Print high quality invitations and sell tickets to the imaginary event, but tell people not to come to it. Many ...[read full fundraiser]

Donation Can Cans

Obtain several cans and decorate them with information about your organization. Ask local companies if you can leave the cans by their cash registers. Collect the cash from the donation cans each week....[read full fundraiser]

Doughnut Eating Contest

Duct Tape Trap

You will need duct tape and a chair. Place a chair against a wall, and have the victim (a popular teacher) stand on it. People can now pay to place tape over the person and wall, to stick them on the wall!...[read full fundraiser]

Eat for a Cause

Arrange with a restaurant to get 10% of their profits for a certain night, in exchange for advertising. Advertise to people that eating there that night will be donated to your cause!...[read full fundraiser]

Egg and Beg

Go door to door in small groups and ask them for an egg. Then ask them how much they will pay to do various things with the egg (e.g. "how much will you give me to crack this egg over my head"), until you think you...[read full fundraiser]

Face Painting

Flamingo Flocking

Purchase and place several cheap pink flamingos on people's lawns with contact signs. Provide the option to pay to have the flamingo removed, or pay more to have it moved to another person's lawn. Also provide the option to...[read full fundraiser]

Food Fight

Host a large event where you bake several pies and charge people an admission to come to the fight. You can use graham pie crusts and 6 oz of custard in each pie, and give each participant 2 pies to throw, and charge a 5$ ad...[read full fundraiser]

Frisbee Golf Tournament

Turn this popular outdoor competition into a great fundraiser by collecting entrance fee. Keep the fees reasonable and let everyone have some fun!! Consider getting frisbees donated with local business logos on them:)...[read full fundraiser]

Fund-Razer

If your organization holds multiple small fundraisers throughout the year, then you can sell a fundraising insurance for $20, protecting that person from fundraisers for 6 months! You can just give them a small wallet sized ...[read full fundraiser]

Garbage Can Cleanout Service

Conduct the fundraiser on the first day after garbage is picked up so that the cans are empty.. Send signup forms around ahead of time, and then ask again as you pick up the garbage cans. Load the empty garbage cans on a tr...[read full fundraiser]

Gift Wrapping

Arrange to set up a booth at a local mall around Christmas, Father's day, Valentine's day, or Mother's day. Purchase gift wrap, tape, etc. for your wrap staff. Have the store announce over the intercom your wrapping service...[read full fundraiser]

Goat Insurance

Sell tickets for $10 that allow you to enter 3 people's names for the goat contest. Inform these 3 people that their name will be entered in a drawing to win a goat, unless they pay insurance. After you deliver the donated ...[read full fundraiser]

Guessing Jar

Get a large jar or container, and fill it full of something small (candies, pennies, etc.). Have people pay per guess at how many objects are in the container. Use an abnormally shaped container, abnormally shaped items, or...[read full fundraiser]

Hearts Marathon

Have volunteers obtain pledges from sponsors to pay a certain amount per point earned in the games. Then have the volunteers play Hearts (or any one card game) for 24 hours and collect their pledges....[read full fundraiser]

Hydro Joust

For a donation, teams can participate in the joust. You can also charge admission to watch the event. Canoes build up the best speed, but inflatable rafts can be used for a safer environment. Use a long padded pole for the...[read full fundraiser]

Junk Car

Get a broken old car donated. Sell tickets to get the chance to hit the car with a metal baseball bat a certain number of times....[read full fundraiser]

Karaoke Night

Rent a karaoke machine and songs. Provide drink and snacks for everyone that attends. Charge a $5 admission, and have a great karaoke night!...[read full fundraiser]

Large Vehicle Show

Rope off a large venue and charge admission. Get a whole bunch of trucks, tractors, firetrucks, and whatever you can find to come be in the show! You can even see if you can get some military vehicles, civil vehicles, or a ...[read full fundraiser]

Lawn Aerating

Lobster Racing

Try to get a seafood market to donate lobsters (or anything you could race). Construct channels filled with sea water. Charge admission to the race or allow people to place bets on which lobsters will win. Get local compan...[read full fundraiser]

Make Believe Tea Party

Mail out fancy invitations with a cheap bag of herbal tea to lots of people. Explain to them that on a certain day at a certain time they can enjoy their bag of tea to participate in the imaginary tea party. Encourage a don...[read full fundraiser]

Mall Coat Check

Arrange with the local mall management to set up an area where you can check coats. Try to secure an area where you can hang the coats and store items. Request a minimum $1 tip....[read full fundraiser]

Mini Golf-a-thon

Rent out a mini golf course for your youth group. Have each participant get sponsors to pay 10 cents per hole, and have participants golf 100 holes in 2 hours. Make money golfing!...[read full fundraiser]

Mischief Insurance

Type up an insurance policy against pranks. Charge $5 for the insurance. Say that you will clean up any mess made on Halloween (but not repair vandalism)....[read full fundraiser]

Mom-O-Gram

Collect pre-orders. When people come to prepurchase their order, have them fill out a personal card. On the day before some holiday or big event, assemble corsages and charge $10 per. For an additional charge, deliver a si...[read full fundraiser]

Movie Night

Rent a movie to show on a projector or big screen. Provide snacks and drinks. You can sell admission or concessions....[read full fundraiser]

Movie night

Find an open area like your front yard, back yard, etc. Pick up a popular movie or a couple and have the guests vote on which one they want to watch. Get a tarp and some tables for a concession booth(don't forget to buy drink...[read full fundraiser]

No Talent Show

Tell people that it is $1 to enter, and $5 to exit. Arrange the talent show so that people perform pointless talents or perform talents poorly (singing out of tune, dancing out of sync, etc.)....[read full fundraiser]

Pet Parade

Find a park or someplace you can set up a fashion show. Set up a walkway and invite people to come dress their pets up and walk them down the walkway. Have a panel of judges give awards for creative categories. Charge admi...[read full fundraiser]

Photo with Live Animals

Set up at the mall or at a fair. See if you can get some animals from a local shelter/humane society (some of them may get adopted!), or have members of your organization bring any docile animals. Charge them to have their ...[read full fundraiser]

Picture Voting

Hold a competition and let people submit their pictures of a certain theme (sports, pets, babies). Hold the photos in a store, or at a local event. Let people vote for each one by placing money in the respective jar....[read full fundraiser]

Pie Throwing

Sell whipped cream pies, $3 for one pie, $5 for two pies. People can donate and throw a pie at their favorite person!...[read full fundraiser]

Pink Flamingo Insurance

Home Owners can then hire the scouts to remove the pink flamingo to a neighbor's house for a small donation ($5).
This is very fun in our community. We also sell pink Flamingo insurance policies for larger donations ($25)....[read full fundraiser]

Polar Bear Plunge

This works great if you live near the ocean or a lake, but you can also set up swimming pools of cold water. Have everyone do the polar bear plunge and jump in the freezing water early in the morning, and then sell hot choco...[read full fundraiser]

Potato Bar

Bake a bunch of potatoes with all the fixings. Provide some salads and sides and accept donations....[read full fundraiser]

Potty Protection Insurance

Colorfully decorate a toilet and deliver it to local businesses and homes. People can pay to have the toilet removed from their lawn, moved to someone else's lawn, or pay insurance to make sure it never returns to their lawn...[read full fundraiser]

Pumpkin Launch

Have volunteers construct a trebuchet big enough to launch pumpkins in. Charge people to have their pumpkins launched, or sell pumpkins for people to launch...[read full fundraiser]

Pumpkin Painting Party

Set up tables with pumpkins, paints, and tablecloths. It's lots of fun for the kids to paint faces on their pumpkins however they want, and you can also bake pumpkin pies, breads, and cookies to sell....[read full fundraiser]

QuickStove Fundraiser

QuickStove's Emergency Preparedness Fundraising Program is a simple and straightforward way for your organization to raise money. Many of our fundraisers have raised well over $40,000.
- You keep up to $10 per sale
- No upfr...[read full fundraiser]

Read a Book

People can donate, and then just stay home and read a book. Raising 100% profits with no hassle!...[read full fundraiser]

Redneck Games

Set up like a carnival, but with redneck games! You can have a hubcap toss, various mud pit competitions, bobbin for pigs feet, and the toilet seat horseshoe toss....[read full fundraiser]

Rent a Puppy

Contact an animal shelter or the Humane Society in order to borrow puppies from them. Advertise beforehand, and then set up the puppies in a park, and rent them for $5 per 30 minutes....[read full fundraiser]

Rent a Youth

Set a time period, such as two weeks, for the fundraiser. Tell people in your community they can rent youth to do jobs, for a price such as $10 per youth per hour.
Make sure you use proper youth protection guidelines....[read full fundraiser]

Scrabble Tournament

Teams of 4, 6, or 8 compete in separate categories. They pay $30 if they bring their own board, $40 to use one that you provide. Teams all start with the same word, and have 30 minutes to see who can get the most points. P...[read full fundraiser]

Spaghetti Dinner

We hold an all you can eat spaghetti dinner fundraiser every year. We use the kitchen of our chartered organization and get all the supplies donated by the scouts families or businesses in the local community. We serve spag...[read full fundraiser]

Super Sundae

Use cheap metal gutters and put ice cream in, and charge people to decorate part of it, and then let everyone eat it all at once!...[read full fundraiser]

Swap Meet

Charge a $3 admission and a 25% commission on each transaction. Have a large area and let people come buy and sell their used equipment, clothing, etc....[read full fundraiser]

Talents

Take some money and divide it among members of your organization. Give each person $5-$20 and let them do their own individual fundraisers. They can use the money to buy ingredients for baking, materials for crafts, or gas ...[read full fundraiser]

Toilet Seat Horseshoes

Set up like a regular game of horseshoes, but use a plunger and toilet seats instead of horseshoes and stakes. Set up the plungers 20 feet apart from each other....[read full fundraiser]

Volunteer Jobs

Have the members of your organization write a service they would be willing to perform on a 3X5 card, and then let other people take the services, and donate....[read full fundraiser]

Yard Sale

Our Chatering Org. gave us the hall for free and we set up the yard sale Fri. evening and held an indoor yard sale Saturday. No cost to the unit, all profit! Clothes, toys, household goods, sporting goods, etc... sell chea...[read full fundraiser]